The Two-Minute Drill With Joe Hamilton

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Nov. 16, 1999

"We have two games left. I just have to be myself and do the things that I have been trying to do for the team and that we all have been trying to do just to win the game. The other things will take care of themselves.

We're a team and whatever it takes for us to win a ballgame. The defense feels that they have to step up. We feel the same way. There's no individualism and no pointing fingers out there. We have to step it up when we have to and they have to step it up when they have to. The defense has made a lot of plays this year. We understand as an offense that our job is to try and score points. So when we get the ball, we try to score points. But it is a team effort. We need the defense to help us out and we are going to help the defense out. Overall, it is a team effort.

The offensive line has done a great job this year. They really take a lot of pride in protecting me and protecting the running backs to. They have opened up a lot of holes.

It would mean a lot to win the Heisman Trophy, but really it's just not my place to talk about it right now. It would be any players dream to win the Heisman. I can't be focused on that right now. We still have two games to finish out the season.

I don't get too involved in things like that, but I definitely know that it goes to the best player in college football. Whatever position he is playing, just the best player in college football. I understand that along the way that some people are going to vote for that and vote for this for various reasons, but I can't worry about that.

I have watched Ron Dayne on TV. He's a football player that gets the job done. He does a lot for his team. He's player that you like watching. What he does for college football, for himself and for Wisconsin is amazing. He's the rushing leader for time. That speaks volumes in itself. He's an exciting player to watch.

When I go back there [to Alvin], there is a lot of love. That's where I'm from, and that's where I started playing football. When you go back there it's nothing but love from everybody. I think we are close knit as a family in Alvin. Nobody tries to knock anybody over , you just want to try and succeed as a whole group. It's important to go back home and realize that everybody is trying to do the best that they can to make it.

The games I played growing up Alvin were just as intense as a Saturday game that I play now. Nobody wanted to lose. We really played to win, although we were cousins, friends and brothers. It didn't matter how you won. You just wanted to win and talk about it after that and then do it again the next day. It was just an exciting and real competitive game that continued for ten, eleven straight years. With no referee you could get away with a lot. We tried to control the game as much as possible. We thought we knew about the game, how the game was played. You won some and you lost some, but the ones you lost were the ones you remembered the most because they hurt so much. No penalties were called. Everything goes in the sandlot.

I started playing when I was about eight. I was just running around and trying to be part. I didn't really understand what the game was about. I was about eleven when I really started to get hit and hit back.

All we really did was play the game. And we really understood the game of football. That's something you don't get in a lot of football players. In college football, you get a lot of athletes and a lot of good skill players, but you don't really get a lot of people who understand that game.

It means a lot that Alvin will now be put on the map. It's one of the best things to know that for so long Alvin has been ignored and now we are really coming back alive on the map. And we can say we do have a spot on this map. We are really all a part of it. If you ask anybody in Alvin, they will say we put Alvin on the map. They believe that they are helping me and they are with me. They feel a part of it.

My father has had a very big influence in my development. He's a positive guy. Positive influence, positive thinking. You can always talk to him. He feels like he has been in every situation that you can be in and he feels like he can advise you on the right thing to do. To have that after every game and when you need it is a big plus.

Then one thing about Courtney [Brown of Penn State, also from Alvin], he didn't really get together as much as we did. For Courtney to come out and play with us was a bonus. The rest of us would be out there Monday through Monday. Courtney would probably be out there three days out of seven. When he was in fourth or fifth grade, he really wasn't getting picked, but as he got older, he started getting picked. He really became the man on the field. He became a guy you really wanted on your team.

I talked to him about his touchdown on Sunday. He pulled away from Drew Brees, I see he still has some of that speed he had. He just said it was something he had to do. It was a tough game and he felt real good doing it. He understands what it takes to win.

Each year things have been added on to my game by the coaches. More confidence, more plays, more responsibilities. Just being smarter with the football and knowing defenses. Things have definitely slowed down out there from my freshman and sophomore years. Now it has slowed down to where I know what the defense is trying to do and what their objectives are. For the most part, you grow up and you mature in football and you know what to expect and you know how to push the game.

I just want a chance to prove myself in the NFL. I don't know how good my chances are or how high I will go. I just want a chance. A legitimate shot to prove myself. If I can get that everything will fall into place.

I like challenges and I like to defy the odds. I just want someone to look at me and give me a chance. If you get a chance that is all you can ask for. I am going to play football somewhere.

I take a lot of pride in being able to execute whatever play the coach calls or whatever okay needs to be called. I would like to go to an offense that features a running type quarterback. I think I could succeed in leading that offense.

Hopefully I can pursue a professional career in the NFL. But if not, I am going to graduate this spring and go into the business world somewhere. But I would still like to be involved in sports."